A disturbing new trend in child sex trafficking is occurring at high schools around the country, right under the nose of officials. H.R. 159 STOP EXPLOITATION THROUGH TRAFFICKING ACT OF 2015 doesn’t adequately address that issue. Moreover it sometimes confuses between the victims and the perpetrators of this type of heinous crime.
Despite a growing recognition of the seriousness and pervasiveness of the crime of child sex trafficking, across the country and a majority of the states still have statutes on the books that criminalize child prostitution.
These statutes are often in conflict with the states’ statutory rape and child abuse statutes, which support the idea that a minor is incapable of consenting to sex.
A Dallas police sergeant has captured this problem: `If a 45-year old man had sex with a 14-year old girl and no money changed hands, she was likely to get counseling and he was likely to get jail time for statutory rape. . . . However, oddly enough if the same man left $80 on the table after having sex with her, she would probably be locked up for prostitution and he would probably go home with a [de minimis monetary] fine as a john.’
A number of states have passed laws in recent years that either decriminalize child prostitution or help to ensure that these victims are provided access to the services and support necessary to recover from their trauma. In 2008, New York enacted the Safe Harbor for Exploited Children Act, which recognized that children engaged in prostitution are not criminals or delinquents, but rather victims of a brutal form of child sex trafficking and abuse who need specialized services.
This law has led to the passage of similar ‘safe harbor’ bills in other states. Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Ohio, Vermont, North Carolina, and Washington have safe harbor provisions that provide either immunity or diversion for children engaged in prostitution and establish services or plans for services. Connecticut, Michigan, and Tennessee have passed laws that protect minors from prosecution.
In Florida, for example children who have been sexually exploited are categorized as children in need of services. In addition, the Texas Supreme Court ruled in 2010 that children involved in prostitution are victims rather than criminals.
The states that continue to criminalize minor prostitution do so in a number of ways. Victims of child sexual exploitation–even though these children are too young to consent to sexual activity with adults–may at times be labeled as child prostitutes or juvenile delinquents and treated as criminals rather than being labeled and treated as victims. These children could then be placed in juvenile detention facilities with juveniles who have committed serious crimes instead of in environments where they can receive needed social and protective services.
Congress hopes to change this with the passage of legislation aimed to address the problem.
H.R. 159, STOP EXPLOITATION THROUGH TRAFFICKING ACT OF 2015 is intended to encourage the states, by giving them preference in their applications for Community Oriented Police Services grants, to pass safe harbor statutes for victims of minor sex trafficking. H.R. 159 also helps to fight the scourge of minor sex trafficking by requiring additional reporting to Congress on restitution orders in these cases, codifying a national human trafficking hotline to help victims get assistance, making it easier for victims to leave a life of trafficking through admission to the Job Corps program, and providing the U.S. Marshals Service the authority to assist in locating missing children upon request from state, local and Federal law enforcement agencies.
We fully support that effort by the way.
The legislation however does not address certain situations where say for example a child traffick’s another child for the purposes of sex or prostitution. This is a growing trend for which the H.R. 159 can’t or won’t address. It also waters down those laws that before held children or teens who traffick other teens into prostitution. In addition because they are minors there penalties if caught are less severe.
See related video: 9th grade student suspended for running a prostitution ring https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNzOLjoKN8Q
See video: Student Led High School PROSTITUTION RING in Florida https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sW_CC4nDg4
See video: A 15 Year Old Prostitute & 16 Year Old Pimp Escort Have Slept With Over 130 People! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzYIyJHn1m8
See video: Teen Sex And Prostitution https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhCVdQb–vY